pizza

First, I have to say that I was seriously amazed by all the comments yesterday’s post brought.

While it’s nice to not be alone in this, I hate that so many of us struggle with making healthy choices v. letting loose and enjoying time with friends. The good news… I have to believe that it will get easier with time. Afterall, it’s much easier for me to choose a salad with lean protein than it ever was two years ago… I’ve made that a habit. Now it’s time to continue practicing that habit.

After all of our back and forth on healthy eating yesterday, I couldn’t resist eating a healthy dinner and tapping into my JC arsenal of foods.

It’s becoming pretty commonplace for me to play with the Jenny Craig Chicken Fajita meal… it’s just such a versatile meal, and one that I never knew could become so many yummy dishes!

Truth be told: I was underwhelmed with the fajitas in their original state because I’m not a big fajita eater. Once I started volumizing it a little bit, my opinion seriously changed! Here are a few of the other creations that I’ve come up with using the tasty dish from Jenny as the base:

Chicken Fajita Enchiladas

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Buffalo Chicken Pizzas

Spinach and Artichoke Chicken Pizzas

Without further ado, let me tell you about this tasty, spicy, smoky dish.. you’ll want to make it over and over again. For a non-Jenny version, click here.

BBQ Chicken Fajita Pizza

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

1 package Jenny Craig Chicken Fajitas dinner

1 1/2 Tbsp. BBQ Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup 2% Mozzarella cheese, shredded

sliced red onion, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Over medium heat, cook the contents of your chicken fajita dinner. Discard seasoning packet. Cook for 5 minutes or until done.

3. Once your veggies and chicken have warmed completely, separate the chicken and onions from the peppers. Remove chicken to a cutting board and slice the chicken into small pieces. Discard peppers. Note: You can use the peppers, but I thought that the peppers would add the wrong flavor for this dish.

3. Place the tortillas on a cooking sheet or pizza pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Add 1 1/2 Tbsp. BBQ, splitting the quantity between the two tortilla “pizzas.”

4. Add chicken and onion mixture to the pizzas, divided equally.

5. Add thinly sliced onion to the pizzas (as much as you’d like) and top each tortilla pizza with 2 Tbsp. shredded cheese.

6. Sprinkle each pizza with chopped cilantro (as much as you’d like.)

7. Bake your pizzas for 15 minutes or until browned. Note: I also turned the broiler on for a few minutes just to brown them up a little extra!

8. Slice and enjoy!

Whole Foods, You're My Hero (Part I)

Hello, Pinkberry. Very Nice to Meet You.

Weigh-In Update and Planning for a Better Week

After my return to Jenny this weekend, I had a renewed passion for eating on plan and for coming up with new and delicious recipes using Jenny Cuisine.

Saturday night, I had a craving for spinach and artichoke dip… not really the dip, just that flavor. So, I got busy in the kitchen.

Originally, I was going to make a Spinach and Artichoke quesadilla, but after beginning to prepare the recipe… there was WAY too much veggie mix to go with a quesadilla. In the end, I was SUPER happy with the pizzas.

They were creamy, flavorful, and really took care of my craving. Yet another way to volume the JC Chicken Fajita kit, I hope you’ll try this one, too!

Chicken Spinach & Artichoke Pizzas

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

1 package Jenny Craig Chicken Fajitas

1/4 medium onion, diced

2 tsp. garlic, minced

3 petite artichoke hearts, diced

1/4 cup chopped spinach, thawed with extra liquid removed

1 wedge Laughing Cow Cheese – Garlic and Herb flavor

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded & made with 2% milk

crushed red pepper flakes

cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add the meat and veggie mixture to the a saute pan at medium heat. Saute until cooked through and then remove from heat.

3. Meanwhile, defrost your spinach in the microwave. Once thawed, remove the excess liquid by wringing it in a towel over your sink. Note: It took about 2 minutes in the microwave for my spinach to thaw. I’d recommend using fresh spinach if you have it on hand!

4. Spray your saute pan with cooking spray. Add onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes until they are cooked.

5. Add diced artichokes and spinach to the pan. Also, add chicken (removing the onions and peppers) to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Discard the peppers and onions.

I used these petite artichokes. They were perfect!

6. Remove chicken-spinach mixture to a small bowl. Add one wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese and mix until combined.

7. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, and place tortillas flat on the sheet. Add 1/2 of the veggie-meat-cheese mixture to each tortilla. Optional: Sprinkle with crushed red peppers.

8. Add 2 Tbsp. of mozzarella cheese to each pizza.

9. Bake for 10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Optional: Broil for an additional 1-2 minutes until cheese has browned and tortilla crisps additionally.